Posted: Mar 04, 2005 6:15 AM
Shifty,
There's a reason for picking the car apart. It offers a chance for those of us that know how these cars were equipped to pointout the variances from stock. In some circles, mainly collectors, these changes although subtle degrade the value of the car.
Ron P's car is nearly perfect and is probably the best example of a Euro M5 in the US. The only thing Ron should have done when he had the car repainted was remove the side markers that were installed during federalization. However on Ron's car, the shop that did the federalization, did it in a way I've never seen done on any other Euro E28. They are nicely blended into the Euro Bumpers, not tacked onto the side of the body like on this particular car, ditto for TT's M5. FWIW, My Euro M5 doesn't have the tacked on side markers, and there is no evidence of them ever being installed when looking at the interior of the rear qtr panels. The front turns on my M5 have had dual fliament bulbs sockets installed so they function as side markers and turns. I plan on deleting this at some point.
I'd also be very wary of a 3.9L stroker engine. The E34 M5 3.8L engines had longevity problems. Duke posted that there are lot's of wornout 3.8L M5 engines available in Germany for this reason.
We also don't know what this guy wants for the car. Could be reasonable, might be out of line. Even Euro M5s have a price threshold, and it doesn't matter if you spent a ZILLION $$$s on the car, it's only worth what the market will bear. I agree with CGraff's price assessment of this car.
There's a reason for picking the car apart. It offers a chance for those of us that know how these cars were equipped to pointout the variances from stock. In some circles, mainly collectors, these changes although subtle degrade the value of the car.
Ron P's car is nearly perfect and is probably the best example of a Euro M5 in the US. The only thing Ron should have done when he had the car repainted was remove the side markers that were installed during federalization. However on Ron's car, the shop that did the federalization, did it in a way I've never seen done on any other Euro E28. They are nicely blended into the Euro Bumpers, not tacked onto the side of the body like on this particular car, ditto for TT's M5. FWIW, My Euro M5 doesn't have the tacked on side markers, and there is no evidence of them ever being installed when looking at the interior of the rear qtr panels. The front turns on my M5 have had dual fliament bulbs sockets installed so they function as side markers and turns. I plan on deleting this at some point.
I'd also be very wary of a 3.9L stroker engine. The E34 M5 3.8L engines had longevity problems. Duke posted that there are lot's of wornout 3.8L M5 engines available in Germany for this reason.
We also don't know what this guy wants for the car. Could be reasonable, might be out of line. Even Euro M5s have a price threshold, and it doesn't matter if you spent a ZILLION $$$s on the car, it's only worth what the market will bear. I agree with CGraff's price assessment of this car.
RichIf I had the cash, I wouldn't pay more than $18k for this car, again, ASSUMING that the car is in tip-top shape, as advertised. IF it does have issues, no amount of investment in that engine was worth it, because it still needs work. I'd still need to put thousands into the car to make it right. At that point...$14k max.
, after you take it to Kahler's for one of their pre-purchase inspections, figure up what you think it's worth with a perfect engine and subtract 50% of what an M5 engine costs to rebuild. 
Or something close to that, and make an offer of that figure. 
I really like the special burgundy seats, and the obvious shift boot from BMW Individual. Why, the interior even has remote control. 